Ambush in the Dark: A Fates Short Story
by TheJuanTrueKaiser
Summary: As the Hoshidans wage war against their sworn enemy Mokushu, Prince Takumi leads three small battalions deep into the southern forests. A triumphant victory or a terrible slaughter is upon the young prince.


**_Ambush in the Dark: Part 1_**

 ** _A Fates Short Story_**

* * *

It was wet.

It was hot.

It was a maze.

A dense fog covered the understory. The canopy cast the forest floor below in a great shadow. Dead leaves of green and red scattered across the soft earth.

It was early autumn, the sun was setting as a cascade of fog was making its way north.

The sound of birds echoed amongst the towering deciduous trees. Again and again their songs rang as if bounding across the mist.

The ground was damp, covered in a thick mud that sank as three battalions of Hoshidan soldiers made their way across the tall grass.

The horizon was nowhere to be seen, the white fog creating a wall where lie what ever terrible things the men could imagine.

Terrible beasts made this forest their home. Every sound terrifying the most nervous of the men. If death were to come to them, may it be quick.

Around every corner, behind the grass, or just beyond fog could be the Mokushins lying in wait. Or perhaps something far worse.

It had a foul smell the grass, its tiny spores getting stuck all over the anxious men. All burdened in carrying heavy steel weapons and wearing secure gambesons beneath their black wooden laminar armor. Their heavy breathing seeming to break the silence of the forest when the birds suddenly stopped singing...

With a sudden jolt of motion Prince Takumi at the front of the battalion raised his fist.

All the men halted as each repeated the signal in sequence till reaching the flank.

With a whisper Takumi ordered his men...

"Crawl."

Pushing forwards the Hoshidans pushed through the thick mud. The stench caused a burning sensation in their noses, all while the sap all around them to seep deep into their open wounds.

Again and again.

Again and again.

Again and again Takumi led his battalion through the thick undergrowth. Every square mile of this maze was memorized. This living fortress that Hoshido could not pass through. Again and again every route taken was just another path in the endless maze.

This time would be different Prince Takumi thought.

Horses could not pass through. Their desperate screams, the primal sound of death of those beasts as their hooves got stuck in the mud still echoed in the minds of the Hoshidans. The dense fog as if alive dragging the horses below, the mud turning red with blood, and the birds crying out loader and loader.

No ground gained. Men die. Retreat.

No ground gained Men die. Retreat.

No ground gained. Men die...

Beside Takumi were a dozen soldiers with the thickest laminar armor carrying large oval shaped wood and iron shields, the royal guard there to defend their prince.

Crawling slowly beside the prince, Hinata tapped Takumi's shoulder before he uttered silently. "No word from Oboro yet my lord, what should we do?"

Without looking at his retainer Takumi answered wish a calm confidence. "Take position. She won't let us down... I'm sure of it."

With a silent signal from Hinata battalions one and three made took their positions, leaving Takumi with his royal guard and second battalion.

Just over the hill the Mokushin fort stood. The Hoshidans could smell a foul stench, something worse than the putrid grass.

* * *

Red wooden pillars carved from the trunks of the forest's deciduous trees created an imposing wall covered with mounted sticks facing outwards A whole assortment of magical traps were just waiting to be sprung, conjured magic from another realm. The fortress used the rising earth itself as walls upon its north and east sides. In turn undergrowth made effect barriers when stacked together, a mountain of dead matter to be the resting place of their enemy.

A white wall of mist seemed to guard the fortress, ever forming from the moister in the air, than sinking towards the forest floor below.

The sun was now gone. The moon no where to be seen, as the darkness turned the green forest turned black as the Mokushin looked upon the horizon. Dozens of fires burned brightly amongst the pitch.

The grounds surrounding the fortress were heavily guarded. Soldiers paced the outer walls ever vigilant, their eyes enchanted with even greater depth perception and field of view, ready to shoot any flying beast out of the sky. Armed with enchanted composite bows the Mokushin paced anticipating an attack at any moment. The black forest below was noting but an endless void. Miles of trees leading to the far northern reaches of what was once their territory.

There were fertile pastors past the forest. A land cleared of the dense bush and towering trees many generations before.

All now gone...

It was quite within the fortress, no one it seemed wanted to speak. There was nothing else left to say. Again and again the Hoshidans came, trying to slay them upon the ground they stand. The very earth beneath could give way and consume them all and it would be a preferable fate.

The solid earth beneath their feet was covered in footprints, some of bare feet amongst those not. It seemed everyday there were less and less, infection killing more than the blade of the Hoshidans.

Thick black clouds colliding with one another as the sound of thunder from the south careened towards them. A dark mass gathering oceans to fall upon the forest.

Again and again the rains came.

Again and again.

Again and again...

A group of men sat together around the central bonfire. Some wore their gambesons while other wore nothing more than their torn woven garments. Their feet filled with blisters, some not even wearing shoes. They all smelled of blood, some more than others, their frowning faces dripping of water that appeared as tears. The winds slowly picked up speed as the clear rain continued to pour. The solid ground slowly began to turn to mud. Sweat and water dripped from the faces of the Mokushin. A slush of fluid now covering their aching bodies, shaking from the pain they have been forced to endure from previous battles.

The men were chewing on something foul. A rancid breath filled the air with every bite into rotting fish.

Their lands were pillaged and burned. Their people fleeing to the coasts. Fishing replaced most agriculture.

Suddenly with a great passion one of the men cried out. "I'm tired of this crap! Why does Kotaro ship all our grain to those Nohrian bastards!"

The other men all looked at him in confusion, not knowing how react, their faces in shock. The rain pouring down even harder as the sound of ripping flesh ceased. Faces devoid of all thought other than a deep yearning, a yearning for it to all end.

With a soft whisper as if using all his strength the man sat back down with his head lowered and uttered. "We don't deserve this... "

There was a silence. The light of the flames illuminating the Mokushin's eyes.

In a stern tone another soldier confidently answered. "We need their strength comrade. We can't win this war alone."

Another pause.

Silence.

"We are on the brink of starvation! How much longer do you think we can keep this up!? responded another solider.

A deep sadness filled the air. The rain resisted to cease.

The man sat back looking his head up towards the heavens as the rain poured down and uttered. "It never ends..."

* * *

Takumi's enchanted eyes glowed green staring into the night, relaying his position and status to the other waiting Hoshidans laying in wait.

An hour had passed. Time has seemed to slow down. Every moment playing out ever so clearly. The silent forest mocking the patient of the Hoshidans, devoid of audible stimuli it seemed as if they would all go insane.

A sound

A cry

A terrible sound.

" **Death** to Hoshido! Death to **Mikoto**!"

Again

" **Death** to Hoshido! Death to **Mikoto**!"

It repeated.

Again and again

And again...

The Mokushin's chanting could be heard just over the hill. A roaring cry like a that of a wyvern able to fly once more.

Takumi's eyes widened. His heart stopped for a moment.

" **BASTARDS**." uttered Takumi in anger, clenching his left fist almost standing up.

Grasping onto Takumi's hand Hinata assured the prince. "Takumi, hold your temper... your fury will be released on these savages soon."

The air was still. The wind had died down. The rain still pouring down as flashes of lighting reveled the Hoshidans all hiding the undergrowth, only to disappear within less than a second. Takumi and Hinata laid on their stomachs within the putrid smell of the grass and sinking mud waiting... waiting for her signal.

Silence

Silence.

A soft melody had begun to fill the air. The dense fog seeming to give way to its song. Perhaps a sign. Or an omen. The forest playing tricks on them. It echoed across the underbrush, souring into the canopy, only to fall back to earth to course through the very mud the Hoshidans lay in.

It grew loader

Came closer.

Closer to the prince.

It penetrated his ears, ringing and hissing until it was a terrible sound. A terrible cry.

It would not stop. It rang. It roared. It screamed. There was no end.

It was only the sound. The sound.

The sound

The sound

The silence

The silence

The sound

The silence

The SILENCE

THE SILENCE

"My prince." stated Hinata breaking the silence.

"Y-yes soldier." answered the prince suddenly regaining his focus.

"We have confirmed that The rear guard has covered our flank. The enemy has been wiped out without alert. We are free to proceed." Hinata informed the prince.

Takumi paused. Looking up above the canopy was nothing but an empty black void. The stars no where to be seen as the thunderous clouds covered the distant suns. He looked upon his men, all waiting patiently beside him, all ready to die if fate has decide it to be so.

Uttering out with a most vicious passion Takumi turned his head and ordered his men. "Leave no survivors my friends."

Prince Takumi, covered in mud and the stench of the grass looked towards Hinata and nodded.

Hinata stared out into the night and spoke. "Begin."

With a great roar the moment a flash of lighting struck the earth the prince cried out. " **ATTACK** **!** "

* * *

 **Continued in part 2...**


End file.
